Basic Tips for the Destroyer in Torchlight

With a name like the Destroyer, he's pretty much the class who smashes, slices, and grunts his way to victory. Here's a few tips on how to keep the Destroyer from being turned into a typical boring old melee fighter.

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Introduction

He looks like former wrestling superstar Goldberg. He's someone that Kratos maybe doesn't mind having a beer with while they swap stories about the latest bodies they laid to waste. With a muscular frame, a big tattoo on his chest, along with those giant arms and hands, the Destroyer is no doubt the guy you want in Torchlight if you love to just hack and slash your way inside the dungeons. Torchlight is a good game because it allows you to customize your Destroyer in many ways that are fun - there is plenty of nice bonuses, items, enchantments, skills, etc., to keep you from getting bored of building your character. Here's a short guide on how you can maximize his skills and abilities.

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Turn Him Into A Vampire And Make Sure He Dresses Pretty

The Destroyer can absorb more hits than any other class at the beginning but make sure to give him added protection. Later on the adventure only gets tougher, and you face more dangerous mobs and bosses. Don't just rely on a high defense and basic armor supplies to get you through the game. You're not just a warrior but a businessman and treasure hunter as well, so make sure to buy and pick up other essential items, like amulets, rings, and embers - they will give you another layer of protection, adding bonus points to Defense and better resistance to the elements.

The Destroyer will spend plenty of his time surrounded by foes so he will be in constant attack mode swinging his weapons all over the place. While those situations can be costly for his health, enchantments like health stolen and health recovery now become very useful. They can be found on some of the weapons you find. Health recovery adds bonus percentages for regenerating health faster while health stolen allows the Destroyer to steal some of the enemy's HP for every successful hit he lays on them.

Even with a solid defense, all those hits you take in more hectic battles with dozens of enemies can easily deplete your health points. Don't fall into the trap of just collecting weapons and adding attribute and skills points for your offense. Pay attention to your defense and take advantage of all features the game provides for you to make it stronger.

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Brains And Not Just Brawns

Decide what kind of player you want to be at the start. Study your class skills menu and see which of them will make the most sense for the kind of character you want to build. Some skills may be weak at first so concentrate on maxing them (each skill has ten ranks) to get their full potential. The Destroyer begins as a solid melee fighter, but the skills, spells, and equipments provided for him throughout the game makes him far more versatile than he looks.

You can play him as a summoner for example. His pets and minions can be more powerful as long as you focus on improving class skills relevant to them. If you move up the ranks on Pet Mastery, you can increase your pet's damage and defense as well as decrease its town travel time. Shadow Armor and Shadow Bowman allows you to summon minions, perfect for fighting alongside you and your pet. The more skill points you add in Shadow Armor and Shadow Bowman, the longer they'll be around to battle alongside you. Zombies and flaming swords can also come in and lend a hand, summoning spells that come in scrolls you find in the game. You can even give these spells to your pet, and now they can summon the undead. If you stick to these strategies, you now have a solid supporting cast to assist you against those pesky mobs and bosses.

Turn the Destroyer into a calculated killer as well and not just a mere butcher on the rampage. Don't just be tempted to click on the mouse repeatedly, blindly hacking your enemies to pieces. The Destroyer has skills apart from the basic hack n' slash routine. He can interrupt enemies from casting deadly spell and attacks with some of the AOE (area of effect) spells located under the Titans tree. There are also various items and weapons that can help you stun, slow, and scare foes away. When the enemy mob comes lunging towards you, knock back and freeze can help counter that, allowing you get out of a jam. Disabled enemies means you can pick them apart more easily.

Add some variety for the Destroyer. Don't just turn him into a bone-headed barbarian.